Dark Conspiracy
by CyrenJ
Summary: <html><head></head>Was the Tevinter responsible for orchestrating the events in Kirkwall?  Have they infiltrated the innermost levels of the Chantry?  Can the world be brought back from the brink of war?  Can two heroes unite and find the answers before it's too late.</html>
1. Prologue

Authors Notes: First I would like to thank anyone who takes the time to read this Fanfic. This story takes place after Dragon Age 2, but tells of actions during the course of previous years that lead to events in Kirkwall unfolding the way they did. Thedus still stands on the brink of war, but now multiple factions seek to use that to their advantage. Unless two heroes can join forces and bring Thedus together again.

Thanks to Bioware for creating a lore that I could fit my fanfic into. So without further adieu, Dark Conspiracy I hope you enjoy.

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><p><strong>Dark Conspiracy <strong>

**Prologue**

_9:40 Dragon Age_

Leliana pulled her hood tightly around her face as she ran swiftly over the rough and uneven terrain of the Frostback Mountains. She quickly glanced over her shoulder but she could not see anything behind as the slope fell away. Her heart raced because she knew that even though she could not see any pursuers, they were there nonetheless. She could see a mountain forest ahead of her, and she knew that her destination lied just beyond it, if she could only reach it.

"Sister Leliana STOP!" A voice yelled from behind her, just before an arrow flew over her shoulder and struck the bole of a tree at the forest entrance.

She knew it was a warning shot because her pursuers did not miss their targets unless they meant to. "You have tracked my every step since Orlais, it seems that you have truly earned you name," Leliana said as she turned and drew back her hood. She looked upon the armor of her pursuers, which bore the symbol of the ever watching eye of the Maker.

"You have stolen something that belongs to Most Holy," a woman scolded her as she stood flanked by two knights. She was Cassandra Pentaghast, a fellow seeker and sister of the Chantry. "Because we were once friends I will not kill you," Cassandra assured her as she stepped ahead of the knights. "But tell me why have you turned against the Chantry and those who took you in many years ago?" She questioned Leliana, as she shook her head. "Why have you forsaken the Maker?" She demanded angrily.

"I have not turned on the Maker, her Most Holy has," Leliana retorted.

"You DARE!" Cassandra blurted, her face twisted in disgust.

Leliana shook her head and glared back at Cassandra. "You know that something is out of place," she said before she pounded her fist into her hand. "The Most Holy seeks to start a war with no purpose, you must see this."

"She only does the Maker's will, it is not our place to question it," Cassandra refused.

"What is said in these documents is not the will of the Maker, but of those who seek to plunge Thedus into darkness," Leliana explained but she could see in Cassandra's eyes that she would never accept such things. "If you would just read one," Leliana implored her as she reached into her pack.

"No, those are the personal thoughts of the Most Holy, and you defiled them by removing them from the Grand Cathedral," Cassandra refused. "Was this your plan all along?" Cassandra asked bitterly. "Were you ever anything but a bard and a spy?"

"I serve the Maker, and I know that the intentions of the Most Holy are not the will of the Maker," Leliana retorted. "An exalted march by Orlesian forces alone while every part of the Thedus stands on the brink of war with each other is not the will of the Maker."

"I admit that I did not expect such action to be taken, but it is not our place to question the Most Holy," Cassandra said, before she dropped her head.

"It is your duty to follow her command," one of the knights blurted from beneath his black helmet.

"Because the Most Holy still cares for you, and I once considered you a friend, I will not kill you," said Cassandra. "Just hand over the documents and tell me who it is you are working for and we will leave," Cassandra offered.

"She works for no one, but that does not mean she is without friends," they heard from the shadows of the boles at the forest entrance, where a form emerged with sword drawn.

Cassandra stood silent for and moment, her face twisted as she struggled to place the face of man. "So it seems that you are alive after all," Cassandra said with a smirk. "You have done well to stay hidden all these years Warden Commander."

"I have not hidden, I have kept close eye on the lands I sacrificed much to save," the Warden Commander said nobly. "A plan years in the making now threatens all of Thedus, and your actions here only seek to aid it."

"You two will come with us, we will sort this all out back at the Grand Cathedral in Orlais," Cassandra ordered.

"Sorry, but we cannot do that," said the Warden Commander.

"You do not have a choice in the matter," Cassandra countered as the two knights stepped beside her.

"You position is not a favorable as you may think," the Warden Commander said as he grinned slightly. "For while you thought you were tracking Leliana, you were unaware that you were being tracked by those who know these mountains better than any," he continued as forms appeared all around the Seekers.

"The Avvar," one of the seekers said disgustedly as he looked about the people native to the Frostback Mountains.

"Now Cassandra, since I consider you a friend I will not kill you," Leliana said as she walked over to Cassandra. "But when you return to the Grand Cathedral tell her Most Holy that we know of her plan, and it will not come to pass."

"This is not over," Cassandra scowled and barked at Leliana.

"No, it is only beginning," Leliana retorted, as she cut her eyes at Cassandra. "Now leave, and know that if you return with reinforcements, that I, the Warden, or the Avvar will no longer be here upon your return."

Cassandra glared at Leliana before she turned and walked away along with the other seekers.

"Do not worry, the Avvar will make sure they leave the mountains," the Warden Commander assured Leliana before he turned to looked in her eyes. "But it is good to see you return safely."

Her lips curled into a smile as she drew closer to him. "It is good to see you as well my love," she said before she kissed him softly. "I have missed you."

"I hope our time apart was worth it," the Warden Commander said.

"Yes, unfortunately it was," she said solemnly. "It is all as we expected, the Tevinter have infiltrated the Chantry," she was barely able to force out because the revelation of such things she did not want to accept. "Even as far as the Grand Cathedral itself, and they wish to use the current state of the world to destroy the Chantry completely," she explained.

"Then we must act," the Warden Commander said urgently. "We will need those we can trust, we must find her."

"But how, she has not been seen since the events in Kirkwall?"

"We know where her sister is, we will start there," he answered. "But with or without her we must act swiftly, or the world will fall to darkness."


	2. In Search of Sisters

**Chapter 1 - In Search of Sisters**

A soft wind blew over the Fields of Briarvale, picking up fallen leaves, which it carried towards a large estate just outside of Highever on the Coastlands of Ferelden. The leaves fell onto the windowsill of a large house, where inside upon a bed of finely woven linens slept a young woman. But her rest was not calm and peaceful as the breeze outside her window. Instead she awoke in her bed short of breath, choked by visions of darkness and monsters the same as she had seen many nights before. She had struggled to stop the many visions that had passed in and betwixt the passages of her mind, but had been unsuccessful in preventing them from finding their way into her very soul. She sat up in her bed, and the air around her was chilled causing her to shiver. She looked about the room to make sure that she was alone before she opened her hand. Small strands of fire leapt from her fingertips and intertwined until they created a small flame to illuminate the still darkness. Her heart jumped and she was gripped with a sudden fear as she heard footsteps which drew closer to her door.

"Bethany, Bethany, are you ok?" She heard between knocks on her door.

She quickly extinguished the flame in her hand before the door cracked open and the light of a lantern crept slowly onto her bed. "Who is there?" Bethany questioned as she squinted and tried to shake away the sleep.

"It is Lady Longwell," the voice answered as she stepped into the doorway and lifted the lantern to show her face. "I thought I heard a scream, are you ok?"

"I am well Lady Longwell. I just had a disturbing dream, sorry to have woken you," Bethany apologized.

"It seems that you have many disturbing dreams," Lady Longwell replied before she approached her, set the lantern upon a table, and set down of the side of the bed. "Could your nightmares be caused by whatever it is in your past that you are running from?"

"Lady Longwell, I don't know…"

"What I am talking about," Lady Longwell cut her off before a loud sigh. "I only allowed you to work here because you arrived on my doorstep with a request from Nathaniel Howe, whose family has been a dear friend of ours through the years," she explained. "But I do not know anything about who you are or where it is you came from."

Bethany's thoughts always drifted to her mother when she spoke to Lady Longwell because her caring, motherly voice reminded her of that of her mother.

"And I thank you for taking me in my lady, I hope I have earned my keep," Bethany thanked her.

"That you have my dear, better than I could have ever imagined," Lady Longwell praised her as she nodded her head. "You accomplish your tasks in such ways that sometimes I swear it's by magic," she joked before stood from the bed and picked up the lantern.

Bethany smiled inside as she watched the woman who had become like a mother to her walk towards the door. "_If only you knew_," she thought herself as Lady Longwell stopped in the doorway and looked back into the room.

"Perhaps the day will come when you will trust me with what torments your dreams Bethany," Lady Longwell said, before she turned into the shadows. "Secrets will destroy you if you hold them in long enough."

Bethany watched her pull the door closed before she laid back onto the bed, where she hoped sleep would take her.

"You wish to tell her that you hold these secrets from her for her own good," a voice said from the darkness.

Bethany quickly sat up startled in her bed as called a small flame to her hand once again. "Who is there," she demanded, as she swung the flame around the room in the direction of the voice.

"Or do you not wish to tell her that your dreams are of monsters these lands have not seen since the days of the Blight?"

She recognized the accent, that of an Orlesian woman. She increased the size of the flame in her hand to illuminate more of the room but she still could not see the intruder. "Show yourself."

"Perhaps you fear that every footstep outside your door could be Templars coming for you?" The voice continued.

She swung the flame to the far corner of her room where a shadowy figure emerged into the light. She stood roughly the same height as Bethany, her hair was short and red from what Bethany could see by the light of her flame. She bore a shortbow and a small quiver on her back, with two daggers crossed beneath. "Who are you," Bethany demanded angrily.

"Someone who knows who you are, Bethany Elvaine," the woman replied as the flame reflected in her eyes. "Or should I say Bethany Hawke."

Bethany was caught off guard by the woman's words and struggled to stay composed. "How do you know that name?"

"We do not have time for question and answer, you must get dressed and come with me," the woman said before she walked over to the window and opened the shutters.

Moonlight spilled into the room, and Bethany's eyes tried to adjust to the light. "What, wait, why would I come with you, I do not even know who you are?" Bethany questioned.

"I am Leliana," she replied. "As for why I am here, come and see for yourself."

Bethany rose from the bed and walked slowly over to the window, which looked out onto the elves servant quarters and barns.

Leliana pointed between two of the structures, where the shadows began to move. "There, do you see them?"

"Are those…"

"Yes, they are Templars, and you know why they're here."

"I thought that Templars had rebelled against the Chantry, why are they still hunting mages?" Bethany asked confused.

"Some still feel the need to fulfill their divine duty, by rounding up apostates and placing them in safe places until some semblance of the circles is restored," Leliana answered, as she kept her eyes fixed on the forms moving swiftly about the grounds of the estate. "Other factions feel after the events in Kirkwall that there is no safe place for them…"

"So they kill apostates on sight," Bethany said sadly.

"And since I do not know which are here, it is best that you get dressed and come with me quickly."

"But who are you, and why are you helping me?" Bethany asked in a panic as she watched the Templars draw closer.

"I will answer your questions in time, but right now you must get dressed and come with me," Leliana said sternly, but Bethany was still frozen in fear. "Now," Leliana barked.

Bethany did not know who this Leliana was, but she knew the sight of Templars and that nothing good could come of allowing them to see her. She ran to her armoire and pulled out the first clothes she could find suitable for long travel.

"Hurry, they are here," Leliana rushed her.

"I am going as fast as I can," Bethany snapped back, as she pulled boots onto her feet and stood from the bed. She stuffed some items into a pack before her ears caught the sounds pounding on the door to the house. Shouts from Lady Longwell quickly followed, as she demanded to know what was happening. She scolded those at the door as she promised them that there were no mages in her house just her family and servants.

"Come, we must go now," Leliana beckoned her as she climbed through the window and stood on the windowsill.

"What will happen to Lady Longwell, she cannot come to harm because of me?"

"They will not harm a noblewoman, now come," Leliana ordered.

Bethany turned to sounds of footsteps on the stairs, before she turned back and ran to the window. Leliana gracefully leapt from the window and rolled on the ground below before she regained her feet. Bethany climbed onto the windowsill as well, and thought that if it were ever a time when she wished to have the agility of a rogue. She was hesitant to leap until she heard the heavy footsteps on the second floor.

"Jump Bethany," Leliana yelled.

"Here goes," Bethany said to herself before she leapt from the window and crashed to the ground. She heard the sound of wood being splintered, as she rolled on the ground and Leliana helped her to her feet. She looked up just as two Templars came into the window.

"Apostate, STOP!" One of the Templars yelled.

"Come, they cannot make the leap in such heavy armor," Leliana said, before she grabbed Bethany's hand and pulled her around the side of the house out of the Templar's view. They raced across the grounds into the trees behind the estate. Bethany did not know where she was going or even who she was with. She didn't know what danger could lie ahead, but she knew that she was not in the custody of Templars, and for that moment that was all that mattered.


	3. Highever

**Chapter III - Highever**

Leliana pressed quickly through the Forest of La'til making her way west through the Coastlands. She pushed aside any foliage before it could break her stride, as her eyes shifted from the path ahead to the boughs of the trees. She looked back over her shoulder and sighed as she realized the gap between herself and Bethany had widened. Leliana was skilled in navigating such terrain in strands of falling moonlight, but Bethany had fallen behind increasingly farther.

"Come Bethany, you must keep up," Leliana barked.

"Leliana, stop," Bethany blurted before she stopped and doubled over. "I cannot keep up."

Leliana stopped quickly before she turned and dashed back to Bethany. "We cannot linger here Bethany, we must keep moving," said Leliana, as she continued to look about the path before and behind them.

"But where are we going?" Bethany asked through heavy breaths. "We can't just wander aimlessly."

"We are not wandering aimlessly Bethany we are…" Leliana stopped midsentence and began to look about.

"Leliana, what is it?" Bethany asked as she looked around as well.

Leliana did not answer Bethany; she instead fell into the shadows and took watch over the area.

"Leliana, Leliana," Bethany whispered as she looked around the darkness anxiously. "Where are you?"

"You are alone apostate," a voice leapt from the shadows before they began to move and take the shape and a Templar Hunter, who stepped into the strands of moonlight. "I no longer sense your accomplice, she has abandoned you."

Fear rushed forward full in Bethany's eyes as she backed away from the encroaching Templar. "Stay back," she warned as threads of fire began to dance around her hands. "I refuse to be imprisoned when I have done nothing wrong," she said before she extended her arms and waves of fires rushed towards the Templar.

"You cannot harm me apostate," the Templar shouted, and before the waves of fire could reach their target the Templar became enveloped in a sphere of white light. "The power of the Maker will smite you apostate," proclaimed the Templar before the sphere exploded and white light smothered the flames and swept through the trees. They smashed into Bethany and knocked her to the ground before the Templar approached her.

Leliana feared for Bethany but she knew her steps had to be soundless and her timing perfect.

"There is no safe place for you apostates, you are abominations," the Templar said as he drew his daggers and stood over her. "If you can no longer be housed than you should be killed."

"I will not let you kill me," Bethany said as strands of lightning began to crackle and jump about her hands.

"Your magic cannot harm me, I would think you would know that by now," the Templar gloated.

Leliana closed the last few steps quickly, and there was only a fleeting gleam of moonlight off the blade of her dagger before in found its target through a gap in the Templar's armor. "How about my blade," Leliana whispered in the Templar's ear as she forced the blade in deeper.

Blood spilled out of the Templar's mouth, as Leliana pressed her arm under his chin. "Impossible," the Templar mumbled as he choked on his blood.

"What, that you no longer sensed me?" Leliana asked before she forced the blade in farther. "Yes your skills are impressive, but none rival those of the Bards of Orlais," she said before she twisted the blade. "May the maker forgive you," she prayed before she let his body fall to the ground.

"I thought you had abandoned me," Bethany said surprised as Leliana helped her to her feet.

"I did not come all this way to abandon you now," Leliana said before she wiped her dagger on her cloak and returned it to her back. "But there may be more hunters so we must keep moving, come," she beckoned, before she drew her hood and took to the path once again.

"You said that you are a bard from Orlais?" Bethany asked.

"Yes, I was a bard from Orlais before I came to Ferelden."

"So you are the same Leliana who fought alongside the Hero of Ferelden?"

"Such things are not important right now Bethany," Leliana dismissed her question.

"Such things are more important than you wish them to be," Bethany retorted before she stopped walking.

"What are you doing, we cannot stop?"

"If you are that Leliana, you are the one my sister met in Kirkwall," Bethany recalled before she backed away.

"Calm yourself Bethany, it is not what you think," Leliana assured her, but she could see nothing but fear in Bethany's eyes.

"What is not as I think?" Bethany asked, as she continued to back away. "Are you not part of the Chantry?"

"Not anymore," Leliana said sadly. "It is not as it once was, so I sought ways to make is so again," she continued, before she took a small step towards Bethany. "Now I am hunted by the Chantry more than any mage."

"Then why risk showing yourself to help me?" Bethany asked.

"Because we need your help," Leliana answered.

"We?" Bethany said confused.

"All will be explained soon Bethany, we are almost to our destination," Leliana assured her. "No come, we cannot linger here, lest we be captured by Templars, or worse."

Leliana pressed on through the trees for another hour, and since she could not feel any pursuers, she kept a pace that would not put such stress on Bethany. They finally reached the end of the forest and emerged onto the northern coast. Leliana kept them concealed in the shadows as they moved west along the coastline.

"Your pace is not as urgent as before," Bethany said as she walked closely behind Leliana. "Are we out of danger?"

"In these times we are never out of danger," Leliana replied, as she looked about her surroundings. "But we are well into lands friendly to us."

"Where are we?"

"Lands under the control of Highever and Teyrn Cousland," Leliana answered as she continued to look around. "Come, this way, we are almost to our destination."

Leliana slowed her pace before she stopped and looked down from the bluff where two knights stood. Leliana examined the knights closely until she could the Heraldry upon their shields. Two green spears crossed in front of a green drop was the Heraldry of Highever, but these knights bore on their shields a laurel wreath in the shape of wings, the Heraldry of the Cousland Family.

"We are here," Leliana said before she beckoned Bethany to follow.

They slid carefully down the face of the bluff, and Leliana walked out ahead of the Bethany as they approached the knights.

"Who goes there?" One of the knights asked.

"A friend of Highever," Leliana answered as she drew back her hood. "I am Leliana, and my companion is Bethany," she continued before she reached into her pack. She pulled out a letter and handed it to the guard, who held it open so that the light of the moon could fall upon it.

"We have been waiting for you, I am Alamis, commander of the Teyrn's personal guard, and this is Conner my second in command," Alamis informed her before he turned and walked back towards a cave hidden in the bluffs. "The Teyrn wishes us to bring you to Castle Cousland safely."

"Did you have any problems getting here?" Conner asked.

"Nothing we could not handle," Leliana replied.

"Indeed," Conner said with a grin before he ushered Leliana and Bethany into the cave.

"In this cave is a secret passage that leads into the castle," Alamis explained as he pulled a torch from the wall and lit a fire upon it. "We can enter the castle without anyone knowing you are there."

"If the Teyrn is friendly to us, why must we enter the castle in secrecy?" Bethany asked.

"There are many eyes watching the main entrances to Highever and Castle Cousland, so we will not us them," Leliana answered as she followed closely behind Alamis. "I think it best for the Teyrn if no one ever knows we were here," she added as she stepped through the knee deep water.

"Here," Alamis said as he pushed upon a rock and a stone door slid open before them. "We have a ways to go before we reach the castle, so we must hurry," he said as they all entered the passage and the door slid shut behind them.

Alamis struck a pace through the passage that Leliana approved of, for she was anxious to reach the castle. She could no longer use the moon to tell the passage of time, but she figured that they had been in the passage for about an hour before the passageway dead ended in a ladder.

"We are here," Alamis said as he climbed the ladder and pushed open a door in the ceiling.

Leliana followed him up the ladder, with Bethany behind and they emerged into what looked to be a larder. Leliana had never seen that area of Castle Cousland, but she was happy just to be in its safe confines.

"Come, we shall seek the Teyrn," Alamis said as they exited into through the kitchen.

There were barely any people about the castle at that time of night, except for a handful of guards scattered on patrol. They made their way to the doors of the main hall, which were flanked by two guards.

"Captain Alamis, the Teyrn has been expecting you, go right in," one of the guards said before Alamis pushed through the doors.

Leliana smiled inside as well as out as she saw Teyrn Fergus Cousland who sat upon a chair as he talked with his brother Lorien, the Commander of the Grey. It seemed that years as ruler or Highever had taken its toll on the Teyrn, as she could see grey hair within his beard and hair.

"Leliana, it is good to see you have arrived safely," Fergus said before he rose from his chair and walked over to give Leliana a hug. "It is good to see you again."

"It is good to you again as well," Leliana said happily as he kissed her hand. "I have not had a chance to congratulate you on your marriage and the birth of your son."

"They went to bed before you arrived, but you can meet them in the morning," Fergus said with a large smile upon his face.

"And you must be Bethany," said the Teyrn.

"Yes my Lord," Bethany said as she bowed her head.

"We were beginning to become worried about you two," the Teyrn said.

"You were worried brother, I had complete confidence in my love's abilities," Lorien praised Leliana before he walked over and they shared warm kiss. "Did you have any trouble?"

"No, everything was fine," she answered.

"If only that were the case," Lorien said with a grin, before he grabbed her cloak and looked upon the blood left from where she had cleaned her blade. "But it does not matter, as long as you are here safely," he said before he turned and looked upon Bethany, who bowed her head.

"I am not Teyrn, you need not bow your head to me," Lorien refused as he shook his hand to her.

"No you are not Teyrn, but whether I have fulfilled the duties of my order or not, you are my Commander," Bethany said as she continued to bow her head. "As well as the one who saved these lands from the Blight," she continued before she lifted her head. "That alone deserves such respect."

"Very well then, I am Lorien Cousland, and it is my pleasure to meet you Bethany Hawke."

"You as well," Bethany replied.

"Though I told Nathaniel to make sure you changed your given name as well as your surname," Lorien said with an irritated look upon his face.

"I did not feel Lily suited me well," Bethany said with a smile. "Wait," she blurted before her face shown full with confusion. "How do you know about that?"

"Do not feel that you have deserted the Grey Wardens, it was I who ordered that you be hidden after the events in Kirkwall," Lorien explained, as Bethany stood in silence, her look one of complete shock.

"What, why?" Bethany stammered as she shook her head, and struggled to find words. "I thought you disappeared."

"There a things afoot that will threaten every corner of Thedus if left unchecked," Lorien explained as he rubbed his fingers over his stubble.

"What things?" Bethany asked apprehensively.

"We have found evidence that the Tevinter Magisters were responsible for orchestrating the events in Kirkwall in an effort to force the mages to revolt against the Chantry," Lorien explained as the room stood in deafening silence. "Which they were successful in doing."

"We also have evidence that Tevinter Magisters have infiltrated the Chantry itself, and seek to influence decisions that will ultimately lead to its destruction," Leliana explained as she stepped beside Lorien.

"What, I can scarcely believe it," Bethany murmured as she shook her head. "How have they done this?"

"Over the course of many years, they have been planning this for some time," Lorien answered. "Leliana returned to the Chantry in hopes of discovering the exact details of their plans, but it seems that it was too late when we discovered the entire breadth of their plot."

"Is there anything we can do to stop them?" Bethany asked excitedly. "Is there anything I can do, you must have brought me here for a reason?"

"Nothing you can do tonight," Fergus answered. "I am sure we are all in need of rest, we can talk about things in detail in the morning."

"We have a room prepared for you Bethany, I hope it is too your liking," Fergus said. "I will escort you, along with my guard," he added as he turned to leave the main hall.

"I thank you for your hospitality," Bethany said before she bowed her head.

"Good night," Leliana said as they walked by her.

"I know it is the duty of any leader to keep his emotions hidden, but he was worried for you," Fergus whispered in Leliana's ear, which brought a warm feeling and a smile to her face. "He loves you very much," he added before he exited with Bethany and some of his guard.

"So what happened?" Lorien asked as he stared into the fire.

"Templars came for Bethany just as I got there," said Leliana, which caused Lorien to sigh heavily. "I doubt it was a coincidence," she added.

"It seems that we must tighten the circle of those involved in planning our actions," Lorien said.

"Yes it would seem so."

"But we cannot dwell on such things tonight for I am sure you are in great need of rest as well," Lorien said.

"Perhaps later," Leliana said as she walked over to Lorien and rubbed her hand upon his chest. "We have not had much time together since I returned from Orlais, and there are some things I wish to catch up on," she said as she looked deeply into eyes.

He smiled before he leaned over and kissed her softly and tenderly. "Anything you desire my lady."

"Well, aren't you sweet and attentive?"

"Let's go to bed."

"I thought you'd never ask."


End file.
